From Now On
by ani05tersrVIP
Summary: One of those feel good Christmas stories centering around Kurama. Hopefully just a nice wholesome read for anyone who might tire of the usual dramatic content of our stories for a moment.


Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho (Ghost Files) or any of the characters featured here in that are recognisable from the manga, TV show or movies.

As he sat in the center of his living room, TV screen flickering and wife curled up on the sofa next to his arm chair, Kurama found himself immersed in the repetitive images flashing across his vision. Images of holiday spirit and disasters all tangled together in the usual confusing message the late night news sent out to its viewers.

As the image of an orphan child crying for his parents burned into unblinking green eyes the very same image reflected on them.

Once upon a time the news had been simple logic; it was best to know what went on in the world he thought. As he grew the nightmares of those living in the little box came more clearly into focus and the world around him became – for the first time ever – a world full of living creatures like him. Creatures who breathed and felt. Creatures that cared about him.

Tonight he couldn't watch the usual pain of their world and sit distant from their misery. It hurt more than he ever would've thought a stranger's pain could.

It broke his heart to know that people out there were feeling the same pain he did on his first Christmas without Shiori Minamino.

He had kept his misery ill hidden under a thick veil of routines and demonic stoicism that his friends and family saw through as though it weren't even there. But they acknowledged it and chose not to speak of her death, letting him grow pale and tired in all the effort it took to maintain the denial.

The Christmas tree he'd put up less than a month ago only to dismantle in the coming week was full of burnt out light bulbs that stopped the chain of fairy lights from lighting the dark corner; something he never would've let pass by if it weren't for the fog of nostalgia that had descended upon him. The memories of more than two thousand years of friends and lovers – all long gone – stuck behind his eyes, blocking his vision, as though they were the broken fairy lights on the tree.

But only one he could call family was there.

He'd never had any other family as far as he was concerned. His friends were dear to him and they were very close but they were still just his friends. Maya may have held him at the center of her big and invitingly warm heart – and he loved her deeply for it – but she hadn't given him life.

In truth neither had his mother, though she had created a part of him; the part he liked best – Shuuichi. Yet it still felt as though he would never feel so much like a part of somebody again.

Seven long months of bearing the grief alone finally overwhelmed him and he closed his eyes, letting the first of what he could only assume would be many tears fall. A small, chubby hand gingerly locked in with his and he held onto it. It was the strongest thing he had right then and opening his eyes to force a smile down at the blurry image of his little brown-eyed girl he could feel every ounce of pain compounded in a headache.

Everyone said that Hinata looked like a tiny replica of him but when he looked all he saw was his mother and wife with red hair. The third to arrive of the most important women in his life, like the second before her, looked a great deal like the first to him. They were all fragile, they were all sweet and though their eyes were all different – Hinata's curious, Maya's understanding and Shiori's full of love beyond all reason – they were all alike in gentleness; an emotion he'd never known before them.

Her tiny little hand tugged on his in a wordless plea for permission to hug him. With a slightly choked laugh he leaned down to let her wrap herself around his shoulders and settled back against the chair with Hinata in his arms.

"Daddy."

"Yes?"

"Be fwurwy!" A more genuine laugh elicited from his twisted stomach this time as he shook his head.

"No sweetie, Daddy doesn't turn into Youko Kurama unless he absolutely has to."

"Be fwuuuuuuuurwy!" Kurama sighed and leaned down to kiss her on the forehead.

"How about a bedtime story instead?" She seemed to consider it for a moment before shaking her head insistently and proceeding to chant her garbled version of the word 'furry' over and over again. Kurama frowned and put her back down at the foot of the chair before looking over at Maya to see if she was awake at all. Dark hair obscured her eyes from sight but he could see from the even rise and fall of her side that he and their daughter hadn't disturbed her. Hinata had begun to let out a high pitched wail at being ignored by what she considered the only entertaining thing in the house right then. Kurama scratched his head in frustration as watching her cry made his eyes water. In truth he really wanted to hug her but he knew she'd start to pull on his hair as she always did when she wanted to play with the fox.

He really wasn't in the mood to play; he wanted to cry like a little child while someone older and wiser held him.

But he didn't know anyone older; at least not anyone that would hold him. Sometimes Maya felt older but she was just an old soul, she didn't really have much experience in life. Shiori had always seemed so wise. She'd been able to teach Kurama things he'd never even believed in before becoming a human.

Hinata was becoming furious with being ignored and he felt guilt nibbling at the edge of his mind as he heard Maya stirring next to him. It was difficult taking care of one toddler with another on the way and he didn't want to disturb her unless it was to go to bed which clearly Hinata wouldn't let them. He slipped off the couch and hissed gently at his little girl, crouching like a soldier slinking through the trenches. She stopped crying almost instantly, fascinated by this new game. He crawled across the carpet to the base of the tree, looking back over his shoulder to beckon her to follow. Hinata dropped down in a surprisingly accurate imitation of his position but failed in master the art of slithering across the floor, nearly bruising her nose on the way over to her father's side. He grinned at her and unhooking a few of the tree branches from the plastic trunk proceeded to barricade the giggling girl's face from view.

"Much better; now the enemy won't have to shoot your ugly mug." She squealed quietly and pretended to be some sort of wild animal that Kurama could only guess was meant to be a fox hiding in the brushes.

"Raaaaaarh!" He smiled gently at the sight of the happy girl with a whole life left to live. The heavy weight of his own back seemed to lessen and with a quiet breath of dusty air he realized he'd let his home go uncared for as of late. The first time Maya had been pregnant she'd cleaned obsessively but she was so busy chasing around her firstborn and trying not to fret over her depressed husband that she'd not even had the time let alone the energy to clean this time.

Looking at the small patch of red hair visible through the fake branches of the Christmas tree piled on the floor, Kurama felt a surge of determination wash over him. He may not have the woman who he was once a part of anymore but he now had someone who was a part of him and she'd never get to feel the same amazement that he felt thinking back on his youth unless her parents gave her a reason to be amazed. He reached for the first bulb on the strand of fairy lights and twisted it out of the rope, flipping the switch to see if it made any difference. Then he moved to the next, and then the third. He'd be taking them down soon anyway but all the great loves of his life adored those lights and he wanted Hinata to remember them and Maya to smile at him and see that he was going to be okay.

Hinata cheered loudly when the last bulb was checked and Kurama stepped back to admire the golden white glow in the once dark corner. He didn't feel so guilty this time when he heard Maya stir behind him and a soft voice soon floated to his ears with a smile on its wings.

"Hey, you fixed the lights."

Well, my first one-shot. I did it because I simply do not write enough and these seem to be a great way of getting into the habit of writing with ease. Yes it's short but it does kinda mean something to me. It also gave me a chance to practice writing a story of which I only had the vaguest idea about – normally my stories are ridiculously well thought out which tends to inhibit the writing process.

For anyone wondering; Maya Kitajima is the girl from Two Shots (A chapter of the manga centering on how Kurama and Hiei met) that had feelings fro Kurama. In the official translation it's pretty clear that he had some feelings for her too and personally I saw the two of them together and even though I didn't like her appearance at all (aside from her eyes) I somehow felt she was perfect fro Kurama. Hinata is a character I made up obviously, her name means something along the lines of "Happy place" and seemed like an appropriate name for her.

Merry Christmas everyone.


End file.
